Vishishtadvaitavada (qualified non-dualism) and Thakur Sri Ramakrishna Sri Ramakrishna — So long as you don’t realize the Lord you must renounce saying, ‘Not this, not this.’ They who have realized Him know that He has become all Ishwara (the Lord), maya, jiva (the creatures) and jagat (the world). Then they perceive that the world and its beings are nothing but He. If you were asked to weigh the bel fruit after its shell, kernel and seeds are separated, will you throw away the shell and the seeds and weigh only the kernel? No, you will also have to take into account the shell and the seeds, all these, while weighing. You can tell the weight of the bel fruit only when you weigh all of them. This world is the shell, the creatures are the seeds. While reasoning, they called the world and its creatures as anatmam (not the Atman). They called them unreal. While reasoning, you feel that only the kernel is the all important thing and not the shell and the seeds. In the next place, we reason that the shell and the seeds belong to the same substance to which the kernel belongs. Understand the illustration of the bel fruit and you will understand all. “Anulom and vilom (evolution and involution). Butter goes with buttermilk and buttermilk goes with butter. If there is buttermilk, there is also butter. If there is butter, there is also buttermilk. If there is Atman, there is also anatma (non Atman). “The Nitya (Absolute) belongs to the same Being to which the leela (phenomenal world) belongs and the leela belongs to the same Being to which the Nitya belongs. He who is perceived by the name of Ishwara has Himself become the jiva and the jagat (the world). He who has understood it knows that God Himself has become all father, mother, son, neighbour, man and beast, good and bad, purity and impurity.” Sense of sin and responsibility The Neighbour — So, there is no sin and virtuous act? Sri Ramakrishna — They are there and yet not there. If God retains your ego He also retains your sense of differentiation and the knowledge of virtuous action and sinful acts. However, in a person or two, God completely erases the sense of I-ness. Such persons go beyond virtue and vice, good and bad. So long as one does not realize the Lord, the sense of differentiation and the knowledge of the good and the bad are bound to persist. You may say that vice and virtue have become one for you, that you do only what He makes you do but within yourself you know that these are mere words. When you do evil deeds, your heart palpitates. However, even after God-realization if He so wills He lets you retain the ‘servant I’. In that state the devotee says: ‘I am Thy servant, Thou art my Master.’ Such a devotee likes to hear Godly talk, likes Godly work. He does not like the man opposed to God, he does not like the work other than that of the Lord. When this comes about, God lets even such a devotee retain his sense of differentiation. The Neighbour — Great sir, you say that we should live in the world after knowing the Lord. Can one know Him? The Unknown and the Unknowable Sri Ramakrishna — He cannot be known by the senses or the mind. He can be known by the pure mind, the mind which has no worldly desires. The Neighbour — Who can know the Lord? Sri Ramakrishna — Who can know Him rightly? It is enough if one knows as much as one needs to know Him. Where is the need for us of a small water well? A jug of water is adequate for us. An ant went to a mount of sugar. What need had it for the whole mount? A grain or two makes it so happy. The Neighbour — What can a single jug of water do for the vikara (aberrations) we have? I feel the desire that I should know the Lord fully.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:11:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015